Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-07-02
ON TEXAS SOIL.
The Six.Shooter Is Brcnght 10 Boar
at Gainesville to Settle 81 Indian
Territory Feud.
John Pair KuIs David O. HowtoD, Shoots
rs Own Father ana is Himself
Dangerously wounded,
special to the Gazette.

SDcCldl 10 lUB 6dZCtsCs
GAINESVILLE, TEX, July IA fearful
tragedy was enacted here to-day, ana our
city was made the battle ground for the
settlement of an Indian Territory feud.
The participants were two brothers,
named J. f. and D. c. HoWton, On one
side, and en- the other, father and son,
J. W. s1G Joha Pair. D c. Towton WIS
killed outright, the two Pairs were
wounded, the father By q ball passing
through the chest and the son by a bullet
penetrating his neck, and J. +. How
ION escaped unhuIt and Is now
in Jail. The scene of the conflict
was the Texas wag,n yard immedi-
ately back of Easterwood Bros saloon
on Dye street, and the fight occurred be-
tween II and l O'Clock to-day. From
the best information obtainable. it seems
that young Pair and J. +. Howton net at
the time and place lust mentioned; that
each Immediately grasped his pistol and
the firing began. II is impossible to say
with pOsitiveness who fired the first shot.
The Pairs claim that HowtOn fired twice
before young Pair could get his pistol out
from the wagon 0y which he was stand
ing and in which his weapon lay. The
surviving Hewton says that he does not
know who fired first, but that young Pair
was reaching for his pistol before he
fired. Immediately after the shooting be-
tween J. +. Howton and young Pair be-
gan, D. G.. HoWton came into the wagon
yard, ran up to where old man Pair Wss
standing with g Winchester in his hand,
and caught hold of him. Soon after
catching hold of old man Pair,
g bullet from young Pairs
pistol, according to the most
reliable account, nit D. G, HowtOn Just
rAb9Ee the heart, passed through his whole
body and killed him. Young Pair also
wounded his father in attempting to
shoot Howtou. Immediately after killing
d. C. Howton, young Pair turned to
shoot ct j. L. HOWtOn, who had been
firing at young Pair all the time, and was
wounded in the throat by ball from
HoWton's pistol. The surviving HoWtCn
then ran out the west gate of the wagon
yard up Chestnut street, but was soon
overtsken by officers and arrested. The
elder Pair and D. G. HOWtOn seell 10
have done no shooting at all, and no
arms were found on Howton after be was
killed. The CorOner'5 inquest over How
tons body has been going on all the
afternoon, but with closed doors, and no
facts brought before them have been made
public. The Pairs are now at the
CnCkasaW hotel under medical treat.
ment. The wound OF JOhn Pair is
more serious than that of his father, but
it IS thought that both will recover. The
body of he killed Howton was taken
charge OF by Sheriff Wsre, dressed iOi
burial, and will be delivered to his
parents for interment. The father and
another brother of the HOWtons were il
the city tC-jey, but were not present al
the killing, and had no hand in the affair
whatever.
Your correspondent interviewed J. F
Howton in iail and the elder Pair at the
CbiCkasew MOTEL. From them it was
learned that bad blood had existed for
some time between young Pair and the
surviving Howton, on account of Pairs
repeating an invitation extended him by
Howton 10 join 8 gang, of which uOwton
wss the chief and the object Of which was
to rob a train on the Gulf, Colorado and
Santa Fe. Pair told several persons that
he had been thus impoTtuned by HOwton
and had declined, and to this point the
SUITES Vi DOo4 tuC GlNGI / III duN
j. T. Howton seem to agree. HowtOn
claims that he was drunk at the time he
made the proposition TO rob TO young Pair,
that Pair knew he was not in earnest IL
making the proposition, ana that he ask
ed Pair only once to Join IN such 9
scheme, when, Is stated above, he IVES
under the influence of liquor. The elder
Pair says that his sou was asked by How.
ton several times to take part in the rob-
bling scheme, and that HOwtOn, upon
young Pairs refusal to have anything to
do with the affair, threatened TO put six
balls through his body ii he ever told
anybody anything about the pro-
posal to 90 through the train,
From the statements of both the elder
Pair and J. f. Howtou it appears that for
the past two Sundays young Pair and the
surviving HOwtou have met at different
places in the Indian Territory and have
been kept with difficulty from having
shooting sCrapes then. TIE younger Pair
was suffering too much to make state
ment this afternoon.
As will be seen from the above the re
ports as TO the cause of to-day's ARRAY
and as TO the ARRAY itself are conflicting,
and it will take judicial investigation 10
get at rock-bottom facts.
All the participants in to-day's afIay
are from the Indian Territory. and i've ia
the neighborhood Of TeXanna.
The coroner's jury of inquest over he
body Of d. G. HOWton concluded its "a
bors late this evening and returned YER
dict that the deceased met his death at
the hands of John Pair, who was aided
and assisted by his father, J. W. Pair.
The testimony taken by the jury tended
to prove that the first shot was fred by
young Pair. The Pairs are resting well
at this hour, $50 p. m, and the indies
lions are still more favorable iCr their re-
covery than they were this afternoon.
Deputy Sheriff George w. Womack re-
turned tonight from the Indian Terri
tory, having been in charge Of Ed DeliZer,
whom he arrested on the Washita, and
who is wanted for an assault TO murder
in Missouri.